Sunday, November 22, 2009

St Francis South Dakota - Lavender Church - Pejuta Oyate Teachings


Over the past 20 some years, I have been going out to the Rosebud Reservation to pray and connect with the Hollow Horn Bear Sundance as part of the Minnesota Tiospaye. Xiaosong took this photo of me in front of the old mission church that is part of the Buechel museum complex and all. As a pejuta wichasha "plant person" I am grateful for the ongoing connection to the spirit of the plants, as taught through traditional D/Lakota ceremony. This bundle of lavender I have carried on my dashboard since it called to me in Abuiqui NM at the time of the Peace Teachings on the high desert this past summer. So grateful to the healing energy of lavender, a plant from the area of my French ancestors.

Regarding the history of Father Buechel and the St Francis mission wori, I recommend as a useful bridging resource, a book "Lakota Names and Traditional Uses of Native Plants by Sicangu (Brule) People in the Rosebud Area, South Dakota, A Study Based on Father Eugene Buechel's Collection of Plants on Rosebud around 1920" 1980 by Dilwyn Rogers, Professor of Biology, Augustana College, Sioux Falls SD, c The Rosebud Educational Society Inc, St Francis SD. One of the plants that has been special over the years, English "Prairie turnip" in Lakota, translated in the book as "prairie rice" Lakota tinpsila. Perhaps from psin from wild rice, the most important food for energy for the Dakota people living in Minnesota . Albert White Hat descibed that during our visit to his home when Xiaosong notice the strand of tinpsala on the wall by the family kitchen and dining area. Funny to hear about rice on the prairie in this multicultural context. Pidamiya tunkashila. Thanks for the teaching>>


Xie, Xie for Liu Xiaosong, ta shi wo de hao pengyou. He seems so happy and peaceful here on the prairie in November 2009. (I was learning a little pinyin - putonghua  in 2010-11 to honor Xiaosong and his language and people .Zhongguoren....)

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